at least eight confirmed deaths, including houston police sergeant, steve perez, who drowned in flood waters just two days shy of his 61st birthday. >> we couldn't find him, and once our dive team got there, it was too tresh rous to go under and look for him, so we made a decision to leave officers there waiting until the morning because as much as we wanted to recover him last night, we could not put more officers at risk for we knew in our hearts it was going to be a recovery mission. >> reporter: many more missing. including these family members. four children, the youngest just 6 years old, and their great grandparents. they were trapped in their van and swept away by flood waters. this is the only survivor. how is your brother doing? >> he is blaming himself, of course. he keeps blaming himself. every time we go to hang up, he says, i'm so sorry. it's not your fault. you didn't know. >> reporter: there are parts of chaos in some houston areas. this supermarket, people scavenging in the water, and some coming out with their arms full. for some seeking shelter, a traumatic episode.